Accident scam alert!

I received a letter the other week from the Metropolitan Police claiming I had been involved in a 'Fail to Stop RTC'. It gave details of my vehicle, where and when the accident had taken place, and requested details of the driver at that time, together with insurance details so they could be passed on to the other party.

I was the driver on the day and time and had absolutly no recollection of even the remotest possibility of having been involved in anything that could remotemly be construed as an accident.

The supposed location of the accident was a supermaket car park that fortunatly was covered by CCTV. I spoke to the manager of the supermarket and he very kindly agreed to review the tapes for that particular date and time. He subsequently found the relevant piece of footage which showed my vehicle entering the car park, parking, and then a little while later returning to the vehicle, loading shopping and leaving. It clearly showed that at no time did my vehicle come into contact with another vehicle as claimed.

On speaking to the officer dealing with the incident, and after explaining the above, he admitted that it was quite a common occurance nowadays for some unscrupulous characters to attempt to have minor damage to their vehicles repaired free by claiming someone had hit them and driven off. The most common places to source victims vehicle details was shopping centre car parks!

Although he went on to say there would be no further action I was surprised he wasn't going to persue the person who had reported this ficticious accident, surely it's fraud?

[Bob]

'Wasting police time' is the first offence here, but it is a lot of work for little outcome, and with current police resources stretched it just has to be left. False claims would be dealt with the insurance company if a claim was made.

(Retired Met sergeant)

Thanks for the comments Bob. Something's not right somewhere if using police time to contact an owner but not having the man-power to follow up an attempted fraud is acceptable use of resources.

I suppose I should be thankful there was CCTV and leave it at that, but the cheek of some people has really got my goat!

Ah well, worse things happen at sea

Cheers

P

[sheerwater]

Hi,
We have had two incidents like this where we have actually very slightly nudged people in car parks. The first time we left a note saying we had slightly bumped them and suddenly his car was fatally injured to the cost of £700. The second time the nudge was very slight as happens in car parks (isnt this what a bumper is for ? to protect the car) This time his ''mates'' witnessed it and it took 24 hours for them to report it cos they were all 'p*******' up in th pub and couldnt possibly have reported it in the state they were in. The full force of the law hit us for...failing to report....failing to stop and find out whose car it was....and driving ithout due care and attention.....a possible total of 12+ points. Again a hefty repair bill which was ''carried out by a mate'' who probably also did the estimate etc.etc. This thread has been followed up before with numerous replies of similar cons.
The real crunch is that while plod will screw you for being a motorist they dont follow up the waste of police time because that doesnt show up in road safety figures. If I was you I would insist that plod follows this up to a conclusion otherwise they will try the same scam again and again and again. I doubt if you were the first they tried it on. Cheers Nige

[Bob]

I spent 30 years with the feeling that the decent and honest members of the public were being screwed by the system that was designed to protect them. The shrewd and dishonest, and the scheming solicitors who want to make a name for themselves, will always win the day.

[sheerwater]

Agreed Bob. And it perpetuated by the same lawyers working both for you and against you at the same time. If you are the ''victim'' the chances of you reclaiming what is due to you gets worse and worse. I run a property company and have made it a policy to screw anyone by whatever means (legal) to get anything that is owed to me. I get tenants who wreck houses only to get another house (by lying on application forms) leaving me with the bill and unpaid rent. It doesnt matter what it costs I bang it through the legal system to ensure that they cant do it to others. If you are genuine and present your case properly the ''plonkers'' can really find tables turned against them. Recently I won two cases. The first stood up in court bleating that they could only afford £15 per month. Judge told them to get rid of sky tv and the mobile phones and charged them £125 per month. That stuffed their credit rating for two years. (they move house to get away from a bad credit rating at the old address so it catches them when you put it on the new address.) The second one ws so clever at aviding his debt that he got a seven day prison sentence for contempt of court and the debt is payable to the court. Nasty yes but the ''clever brigade'' costs us all about 10% extra per year. Cheers Nige

Well done Nigel. I am a true believer in using the legal system for our own good. It is there to protect us and can and will do so, at a price of course.

George

Resident near Leuven in Belgium

'87 745 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler
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I'm sorry to say that the legal system really is a sham.

I've had a letter this morning to say no further action would be taken, presumably that includes against the con artist who fabricated the 'accident'. He/she will no doubt find another victim, safe in the knowledge that whatever happens he won't be prosecuted even if his false claim is discovered.

A neighbour of ours is a police officer and he is wholly disheartened by the process of the legal system. Apparantly a 'zero-tolerance' approach exists in some Boroughs of London, the only result of which is gridlocked courts, less officers on the 'beat' as they are in court, and the inevitable two-fingers from the offender when he is given a fine that he knows he will not have to pay and walks from the court to offend again the very next day.

Isn't it about time we had punishments that might just deter crime, at the same time encouraging and supporting the effort the police make to catch these people?

Rant over

Disillusioned and Dissapointed of Dulwich